Learn about the history of Africa including Ancient Africa, African colonization, slave trade, and Post-Colonial Africa. Also covers maps, geography, countries, and interesting facts.

Industrialization led to the "scramble for Africa" by European countries seeking raw materials, markets, and cheap labor. However, other factors played a role such as political, ideological, and religious reasons. Examine these reasons...

Worried that the "scramble for Africa" would lead to another European war, Otto von Bismarck called for a conference to negotiate the conflicting land claims in Africa. Read a short description of the Berlin Conference and view a map...

King Leopold portrayed himself as charitable with his primary goal of helping Africans, when in reality he was a fraud and scoundrel who just wanted his "slice" of Africa. Read about his schemes to take over the Congo and an excerpt from...

Explore the world of Africa through these teacher's guides. This site features teacher tools for middle school age learners.

This timeline provides insight into the long history of struggle of the black population of South Africa. Follow the centuries of European wars and colonial rule and the policies that led to apartheid.

A comprehensive look at the history of South Africa beginning with its settlement by Zulus and progressing through apartheid to the current strong democracy. Information is from the U.S. State Dept. Background Notes.

Now a World Heritage site, Robben Island is asymbol of the brutality of South Africa?s apartheid past. It was prison to freedom activists such as Nelson Mandel. Read the legacy of this island from early Dutch colonizers to the present.

Read the fascinating history of two countries which, only recently, joined together as one. Tanganyika and Zanzibar are now known as Tanzania. Information is from the U.S. State Dept. Background Notes.

Uganda's recent history is one of military coups and human rights abuses. Find out about the current history to see if the country shows some improvement. Information is from the U.S. State Dept. Background Notes.

Learn some history of Angola then click on links to facts about geography, symbols, flags, tourism, and much more.

The rich, vibrant African American culture has spread far and wide through our world. Follow the routes taken over the millennia by examining the following maps that include short descriptions. Listen to audio from slaves describing...

An extremely informative review of a non-fiction book, King Leopold's Ghost, by Adam Hochschild. The review contains specific quotes from the book and accurate historical research.

African leaders responded in diverse ways to European colonization. Armed resistance, trade embargos, and forming alliances with European powers are a few methods. Read the example of one African state (Ethiopia) that retained their...

The Odyssey World Trek tells the story of how Cecil Rhodes formed Rhodesia.

This article is written by a doctoral student of American foreign relations and immigration policy who doing research in Cameroon, Africa. In 1990, just 3000 Cameroonian immigrants resided in the United States. Today the number has...

Learn how apartheid came to be official policy in South Africa. Under apartheid, South Africans were divided into four racial groups: Whites, Asians, Coloreds, and Blacks. Discover what life was like for black South Africans and how...

Read about the Chinese explorer, Zheng He, who lived from 1371 to 1433. He commanded massive fleets and made seven voyages, traveling to East Africa, India, and Arabia, making stops in other regions along the way. He even brought a...

The history of Chad is rich and began more than 3 million years ago. Read about its early history, but there is emphasis on its recent history since the 1970's civil wars. Information is from the U.S. State Dept. Background Notes.

A fascinating look at the exchanges that took place around the world after the Americas were discovered. This covered the gamut from diseases which wiped out 90% of the native peoples in North and South America, to farm animals, tools,...

Read about Djibouti's history from its colonization by France in the 19th century to the present time. Information is from the U.S. State Dept. Background Notes.

Read about the history of Guinea-Bissau as part of the Portuguese colonial empire. Follow its fits and starts in developing a democratic government after is independence. Information is from the U.S. State Dept. Background Notes.

A description of the important gold and salt trade that went on in Northern Africa for hundreds of years. Goes on to detail the emergence of Timbuktu in Mali into a great center of Islamic scholarship and culture under Mansa Musa, who...

Describes the battles and military maneuvers of the Allies and the Germans in North Africa during World War II, resulting in the Germans' loss of North Africa.